BY TOP WAR
Chivalry is inextricably linked both with the world of wars and mounted warriors, and with the concept of “aristocracy,” for knights were usually people of noble birth. British historian Maurice Keane notes that chivalry can be defined as a certain ethos in which military, aristocratic and religious components are fused together [1]. Chivalry denoted the code and culture of the military class, which regarded war as its hereditary profession.
One of the features of Western European chivalry is that military craft became the subject of intense ideological exaltation – there was simply no “way to the top” for knights who knew no other career than the military. For this reason, the elements of war brought professional warriors not only inevitable suffering and hardship, but also significant opportunities for advancement up the social ladder. War turned for them into the main or even the only means of self-realization from childhood until the end of their lives [2].
In science, there is an opinion that the main sources of the political and legal culture of the Middle Ages were, firstly, Roman law, which retained its enormous authority, and, secondly, canon law, based on Christian dogma. However, we should not forget about the most important source – the ancient Germanic military traditions with their emphasis on personal freedom and the dignity of the armed man (“the law of the sword” and custom, as opposed to the “written law”). The culture of chivalry as the socially dominant class of the Middle Ages was based precisely on the law of custom [3].
Some researchers rightly note that the most important for knightly ideology were the pagan traditions of the ancient Germans. After all, the idea of chivalry originates from the traditions of German tribal formations of the era of military democracy…
